If Only...
by yay4me
Summary: Instead of Eve, Xena gave birth to Ares' child. Years later, he pays the consequences for the deal he once made.


  
Rose woke up, yawning. The sun was up and had been so for at least an hour.  
  
"Oh, no!" She cried, and got up quickly, brushing her curly black hair out of her blue eyes.  
  
She stuffed all her things hastily into a pack, then jumped on her horse and raced away.  
  
'The wedding. I completely forgot. Mum's gonna kill me! Literally.' She thought, as she galloped over the hills towards the nearby town. All she could hope was that it hadn't gotten to the 'I do' part yet.  
  
She was in big trouble if they had.  
  
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Xena sat next to Gabrielle. They had hidden both their faces in cloaks and were watching the proceedings unhappily.  
  
"I thought she'd be here by now... Xena?" Gabrielle whispered to her companion, but she neede no answer. Just that minute, Rose burst through the temple door...  
  
"Riding a horse?!" Xena sounded furious even though her voice was low. "We need to have a talk, her and I."  
  
Gabrielle nudged Xena, worried. "But not now, right?"  
  
Xena smirked. "And miss the look on his face? Never. Her punishment can wait till nighttime."  
  
Rose rode right up to the altar, where the groom and bride stood awaiting their vows. The groom stared, shocked, at her.  
"Xena? Is it really you? But I thought you were dead..."  
  
Rose glared down at him. "So, you're Ares. No, Xena's still alive. And now, I've come to exact a price. I call on Zeus, king of the gods to prevail over my matter with Ares, god of war."   
  
Zeus appeared in a brilliant flash of gold light.  
  
"Ares, this young woman has brought a certain concern of hers to me. It has been proved that you are guilty, so I have to strip you of your godly powers and name until this matter is sorted out."  
  
Ares moved forwards, bristling with anger. "Father, what is going on?!" He demanded.  
  
Zeus smiled, enjoying the moment. "You have breached in a binding contract, and so must be punished. There's no getting out of it this time. There is solid evidence to be had, and witnesses who can attest to all that you are accused of. You have one day to prepare your defence, before we meet at Olympus to judge you."  
  
Ares tried to talk, but no sound came out. In the audience, Two women smiled.  
  
"Oh, and you can't marry this mortal. So sorry son, but it's all part of the deal. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, Zeus left in another flash of light.  
  
Ares turned to Rose, at first confused and then back to his usual anger.  
"Who are you to interfere with my life, mortal?" he cried out at her, then aimed a blast of energy at her head. With lightning speed and reflexes, Rose simply ducked and jumped around to stand behind Ares.  
  
"I am the daughter of a petty god, sad to say. You just got in my way of life. Sorry, tall dark and tempremental, but I have to split. I wanna celebrate. Seeya!" Rose mounted her horse and rode back down the Aisle, trying not to laugh at Ares as she left him standing furious at the front of the temple, with a confused mortal bride next to him.  
  
She slapped Ares, and walked out on him too.  
  
  
  
Xena, Gabrielle and Rose sat with Hercules, Athena, Aphrodite and some other gods.  
  
They were all discussing the event that would happen in the morning. Autolycus was to be Rose's lawyer, Xena and Gabrielle would both be witnesses, as would the rest of the attendants.  
  
"Well, we have a prepared case and half a ton or two of evidence. There's no way we can lose!"  
Rose said, excited at the chance to finally give Ares what he deserved.  
  
"Rose, just don't get too into all of this 'law court' stuff, you still have to be a warrior when you grow up." Xena warned, but smiling all the same. She was proud of her daughter Rose for organising all this against Ares. She had a heart just like her mother's.  
  
"Whatever the case, we need to get some sleep so we can put forwards a better case tomorrow. I'll see you on Olympus." Rose said, and the gods all went in one giant flash of light.  
  
"Ow! I wish they'd space out their travel. It hurts my eyes when they all go at once." Complained Gabrielle, and they all agreed.  
  
Xena found a blanket for Hercules and they all settled down for sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.  
  
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Ares was sitting demurely in a chair on mount Olympus. He had been mortal for only about fourteen hours, but he was already a wreck.  
  
Xena, Gabrielle and everyone else was seated on the opposing side of the room that had been set aside for this case.  
  
Zeus entered, and went to sit between both parties, in the middle at a desk with a hammer.  
  
"Now, this is a new style of trial, so let's all be civil for now. We will proceed by first letting Rose begin, then Ares may either argue back or choose someone else to do it for him. Rose, you may approach the bench."  
  
Rose stood up, and confidently strode up to the desk near Zeus. "Almighty Zeus, Hera, and all others assembled here today, I have a simple and clean case to present to you all today." Here, she took a deep breath to steady her nerves.  
"Ares, God of War has broken a sealed contract and bond. He needs to be punished. On my side of the court, I have brought together those who can testify solid evidence to back this up."  
  
She stepped back, and smiled. "It is now Ares' turn, to try and produce evidence against my claim."  
  
Zeus motioned for Ares to stand up and come forwards. Ares did so, and glared at Rose for a few minutes before turning to the rest of the audience. "I do not know what bond you speak of, or what evidence you have to show. All I see is a little girl and a bunch of people who all know Xena. What on earth do you take me for, an idiot?" Ares nodded to himself, then crossed his arms and waited for the girl to fight that.  
  
Rose ignored his behaviour and motioned to Xena. "Your honor, fourteen years ago Xena made a pact with Ares. If she would bear him a child, he would protect her for all eternity and stay with her. He has breached this by proposing to marry another woman. For my first witness, I call Xena to the stand."  
  
Xena walked to stand next to Rose and held her hands in front of her. "I promise that all I tell will be the truth." She swore, then fell silent as Rose stood facing her.  
  
"Xena, did you and Ares produce a child together?"  
  
"Well, I did have a child that was his, but he didn't stay around to see it even born."  
  
Rose nodded, and continued. "And what was part of your contract with Ares?"  
  
"That he would be a father to my child. he would take care of us."  
  
"And he did not. That was established. Thank you, Xena. You may return to your seat."  
  
Rose proceeded through all her witnesses, until all points had been exhausted. It was now Ares' turn to question the witnesses.  
  
"I call Xena to the stand." He announced with a not-so-certain laugh and suddenly his face lit up.  
  
"Xena, if it is true that you did indeed have my child, who are they and where are they right now?" Ares almost gloated out loud, but was stopped by a glare from Zeus.  
  
"Well, Ares, if you must know I had a daughter. She is right in htis very room. Her name is Rose." Xena smiled. "Like mother, like daughter."  
  
Zeus clapped his hands and the sound of thunder silenced the murmurings in the court.  
"It has been decided. Ares has breached his contract with Xena, so he must pay for his crimes by remaining mortal for the rest of his life, and he must protect Xena and Rose with his life for as long as they both live. Case solved."  
  
The rest of the gods dissappeared in flashes of lights, and only Xena, Ares and Rose remained.  
  
Rose and Xena both looked at Ares and grimaced.  
  
"Damnit!" They complained, suddenly realising that they were stuck with Ares for the rest of their lives. This definately sucked.  
  
  
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Well, was this good? Let me know, 'cause otherwise I won't post the next bit.  
Hope you all liked it, it was fun to write. 


End file.
